Tag Archives: travel

We’re in Saint Martin with my husband’s entire family – and our baby. So I have limited time on my hands – and limited brain capacity. I posted a photo of me and Isla enjoying a beautiful view on vacation (the one good photo we took after about 12 outtakes) and Stephanie, a friend of mine from college who I have not talked to in years, mentioned she would like to see a post about traveling with a baby. Stephanie, 1. I was so excited to see you read my blog! That means a lot. 2. Thanks for giving me an idea on what to do for today’s post. Because vacation brain is in high gear, y’all.

I’ll be honest. The key to traveling with a baby is to manage your expectations. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen and accepting that certain things are beyond your control makes it less frustrating when things don’t go according to plan. Like nap time. Look, your baby is going to be out of whack while away. So don’t panic. I’m a firm believer in the fact that Isla can pick up on my stress level. So if I stress that she isn’t getting her regularly scheduled nap program in, I’ve got a tired and cranky baby on my hands who is picking up on my stressful energy. Not good!

Below is the recipe we used for packing up Isla for a week-long vacation at the beach. The house we are staying at has a washer/dryer (CLUTCH!), so keep that in mind as you read the list. We wanted her to have some stuff around that was familiar, since there was so much newness that was going to happen.

Ingredients:7 outfits – cute ones for going out and such. Because babies like to look cute on vacation.5 pajamas – we just did onesies.4 swimsuits – the girl needs options!2 rash guards3 swim diapers – the reusable ones.24 disposable swim diapers 84 diapers – Isla goes through about 8 diapers a day and we are gone for 7 days. So, we packed a lot of extra diapers. But y’all, on the plane ride Isla went through 4 diaper changes – always bring extra diapers.Diaper wipesDiaper creamBaby sunscreen – we use BabyganicsTravel sized baby shampoo , body wash and lotion – we use Johnson & Johnson – judge if you must.Aveeno Calming lotion – for nighttime4 bottles & formula – or your boobs! We calculated how much she drinks and then made sure we had extra.21 packs of food pouches – I usually homemake her food, but there was no way I was packing homemade food to take with us – and there was no way in hell I was going to spend time homemaking her food on vacation. 21 packs is a lot for how much she’s actually eating, but again. Extras. Always have extras of EVERYTHING.Car Seat
Stroller – We just brought our stroller caddy frame. It’s basically a snap ‘n go that is specific to our stroller. It’s easier to collapse and smaller than our ginormous stroller frame and we aren’t strolling her around much, so this works for us.
Toys – we brought a few of her favorites that are easy to pack (and by easy, I mean we packed an additional suitcase for all of her items) so she has some familiar stuff while we are away. In all honesty, she’s been pretty happy playing with things such as water bottles, toothbrush covers, my hair and Neil’s chest hair.

Panic about how much shit you know you’re going to have to take with you. Think about the fact that you never realized how easy it was to pack before you had a baby, nor did you relish in the simplicity of prepping for a vacation before you had a baby.

Lay all of your baby’s stuff in the middle of the living room. Look at it. Think about how ridiculous it is that you need to take all of this stuff with you. Find a suitcase that will fit all of this stuff. Pack up your own bags. Put everything by the front door so you don’t forget a bag on your way out.

Look at all of your suitcases and laugh. Pull out your phone and take the obligatory look-how-much-stuff-we-need-to-travel-with-now-that-we-have-a-baby photo.

If you’re flying with your baby, basically just subscribe to the fact that it’s a game of chance. Hope for friendly neighbors that will understand you’re at the mercy of your baby. If your baby does freak out on the plane, it’s nice to do whatever you can to try to make her stop crying – even if you know nothing is going to stop her. Basically you want people to look at you and see that you’re doing what you can so you don’t receive the “why aren’t these people doing anything to help their baby” eyes. We did a lot of standing up and walking around with Isla. She did take a 20-minute nap on my lap, which was adorable. She then sat in between me and Neil for about 25 minutes while we sipped our bloody mary’s – this baby clearly understands her parents priorities.

Cat nap on mommy’s lap.

Letting us enjoy our cocktails. SHE IS A GEM.

Her new favorite toy – a water bottle!

She did lose it a few times, and I gave my seat-mates the “I’m so sorry, please don’t hate me eyes.” You might want to practice those in the mirror for a few days before you leave.

As for schedules while you’re away – Isla usually takes two 2-hour naps. One at 9:30am and one at 2pm. The day we flew she slept for a total of 45 minutes before bedtime. We did what we could to get her to sleep, but she wasn’t having any of it. Yea, she eventually lost it and cried like she was a ravenous newborn who had no clue that someone was actually going to feed her, but you know what, we put her to bed that night and she slept just fine. Like I said, just have the mentality that things might not go according the plan and it makes things a whole lot easier. We are doing what we can to keep her on a schedule, but we aren’t being as strict. Because hey, we’re on vacation y’all.